Wayne Teichert: Benalla dog breeder found guilty after selling 'significantly debilitated' puppies

A Benalla dog breeder who has bred dogs for 34 years sold puppies which had "difficulty moving" or "supporting their own weight", a court has heard.

A Benalla dog breeder has been found guilty of four counts of failing to provide proper and sufficient nutrition to German Shepherd puppies he sold, and that it constituted acts of cruelty.

Wayne Teichert appeared in the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Friday as the case against him, brought by the RSPCA, continued.

Magistrate Bernard Fitzgerald found the four separate charges – each relating to a separate puppy sold to a separate owner between 2018 and 2019 – proven.

He said testimony from an array of experts, as well as each of the purchasers, proved each of the four puppies had developed nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (NSH) as a result of being fed a diet lacking in appropriate nutrients for puppies their age in the weeks before they were sold.

Mr Fitzgerald said the charges did not require proof of an intention to commit an act of cruelty and the prospect of an open and honest mistake was open, though Teichert – who represented himself through the earlier trial – did not launch this as a defence.

The court heard the owners noticed a range of issues in their puppies in the days after taking them home, including the first who was “significantly debilitated and had difficulty moving and supporting his own weight”, the second who was “in pain and had difficulty moving” and another that fractured its leg.

During the earlier trial a professor had said the dogs suffered from NSH as a result of major nutritional imbalances and said it was “highly likely” the condition had been developing for 1-2 weeks for the signs to be “so severe”, the court heard.

The court heard Teichert – who has bred dogs for more than 34 years – had maintained the dogs left his care in good health, was emphatic he had made no mistake and that any health issues were the result of the actions of the purchasers throughout the case.

The court was told Teichert had denied the offending throughout the court proceedings. 

“It is my belief these four charges levelled against me are from a three-year witch hunt from a small amount of people who don’t like how I conduct my Facebook page and also don’t want to take responsibility for their own mistakes and neglect,” Mr Fitzgerald said the court had been told.

In addition to paying more than $80,000 in costs, the prosecution on Friday lodged applications for Teichert to be banned from owning dogs under the age of 18 months for 10 years and for him to be stripped of his breeding business licence. 

The prosecution said the reason for this was Teichert’s refusal to accept responsibility and that he had not changed the diets of other dogs in his care since.

“He has no remorse. He has continued to feed his dogs in the way it has now been proven caused this condition in his dogs,” the prosecutor said.

On Friday he told the court remorse meant being apologetic and regretful for doing something wrong, but he didn’t “know what” he had done.

He added the orders would “effectively be the end” of his life.

Teichert will be sentenced in court next week.